Over the past two years, I've developed a growing intuition:

In the next five years, for ordinary people, making money is certainly important, but even more crucial is not to blow the money you've already earned.

It's not an exaggeration; the environment really has changed.

On one side, income growth is slowing down, jobs are harder to find, opportunities are fewer; on the other side, temptations are increasing:

“Enjoy now and worry later” consumerism, flashy addictive products, high-return schemes disguised as “projects” or “side jobs”...

If you get a little FOMO, you might get scammed out of a big chunk of money.

My simple judgment is: in the next five years, ordinary people’s primary goal should be to hold onto their money and not be led by others.

When it comes to consumption, the problem has never been about what to buy, but why to buy.

Some spending is justified—if it can improve efficiency, reduce internal friction, or help your body and brain operate better—that’s the right investment.

The truly dangerous types are:

Initially not planning to buy, but after browsing a few recommendations, suddenly feeling “I need to have this”;

Starting with little pressure, but after scrolling around, begin to doubt “Am I living too frugally?”

This kind of emotion-driven consumption will, over time, turn you into a debt slave or a paycheck-to-paycheck spender.

The same applies to investing.

Many people don’t lose because of risk itself, but because of stories of high returns.

If you look closely, you’ll see that 90% of projects claiming to be “easy, passive income, guaranteed, managed” are essentially just taking advantage of beginners.

Honestly, what most ordinary people can understand are probably dollar-cost averaging into Bitcoin, engaging in simple financial products on exchanges, earning airdrops, and long-term, stable investments in US stock index funds and US Treasuries.

Anything beyond your understanding, don’t touch it yet. Earn less now rather than lose everything.

Therefore, I now advocate a very simple principle:

Spend your money as much as possible on things that will make you more valuable in the future, rather than on current vanity and impulses.

Learning real skills, buying time and efficiency, maintaining your health and mental strength—all of these are part of saving money,

Because they will bring money back to you in the future.

The next five years may not be a time of endless opportunities, but it will definitely be a time of who’s more stable and who can last longer.

Protecting your purse, in simple terms, means safeguarding your confidence and your right to choose.

Don’t let temporary pleasures today block all your paths tomorrow.